Sunday, November 21, 2004

in 1638, a rebel group of church assemblymen in Glasgow, Scotland, banded together and founded the Church of Scotland in defiance of the Holy British Empire. This was one of many problems that led to the secular rebellion against Pope Charles I, one of the worst Popes in Holy British history.

in 1694, Francois Marie Arouet was born in Paris, France. As a young man, he became one of the first humans to enter the philosophical academy of the Mlosh colony ship in Prussia, and emerged as France’s leading thinker. His treatises on existence and sentient relationships are still read with wonder today.

in 1783, the Montgolfier brothers, testing their new hot-air balloon, successfully managed to send a French nobleman, the Marquis d’Arlandes, and a prominent physician sailing through the Parisian sky. It was the first time anyone had flown untethered, and the last for a long time, because the Montgolfiers hadn’t quite perfected the method of landing the aircraft. The Marquis’ successor had them both executed.

in 4492, Chinese sailors in the eastern ocean discover a settlement of Polynesian people on a chain of islands the natives call Hawai’i. Though the islands are small, they are rich in agricultural produce, as well as natural beauty. Hawai’I soon becomes a trading partner and vacation spot for the Chinese Empire.

in 1941, with Germany secured from the Greater Zionist Resistance, German Underground leader Adolf Hitler has his architect, Albert Speer, begin constructing a New Berlin to show the face of what he calls Nazism to the world. Speer is assigned several staff members who are neo-Nazis from the future, who assist him with designs and materials from 1968. New Berlin will become a colossus towering over the rest of the world.

in 1974, Congress failed to override a veto by President Gerald Ford on the Freedom of Information Act. The rest of this post will be $3.95, payable to U.S. Government, Pueblo, Colorado, 81001.

in 1975, Congressmen of the Socialist Party, newly in the majority after decades out of power, release a report accusing the last two Communist administrations of complicity in the assassinations of several reactionary government leaders abroad, including Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Although a Socialist himself, Comrade President John Anderson orders the report suppressed because “it would do grievous damage to our country, and be used by groups hostile to the Soviet States to do damage to the reputation and policy of the Soviet States.”

in 1993, the first steps were taken towards making the District of Columbia the 51st state when the House of Representatives approved the measure. D.C. officially became a state the next year, electing its first Senators and Representatives in the election of 1994. They are widely credited with stemming a tide of Republican victories that year, leaving the House and Senate in Democratic control.

It is the capitol of the U.S., but it is also a well-populated area - more well-populated than some states, in fact. It has no real representation in the national government, being pieced together from parts of other states, and there has been a movement for some time to have it become a state so that the citizens of the area can have more of a say in their own affairs.

I am curious about your 51st state commentary. Is this a personal or a historical interest?

I live in the Washington, DC and we started a blog to highlight that over 500,000 people living in our city do not have Congressional Representation on Capital Hill. We pay taxes, fight in the Armed Forces, and serve on Federal Grand juries. However, due to a historical anachronism in the Constitution, our elected representative has no vote in Congress.

We formed a group, The Stamp Act Congress to spread the word about this injustice. Our main protest is to stamp money with our slogan, "Stamp out Taxation without Representation in Washington DC!" Its been a lot of fun to do, and we hope that if enough Americans realized DC should have a vote in Congress, it will happen. Please contact me if you want to help. We need all the help we can get!

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